Orange Team: Day Three (Jonathan)

The things that can drive change in human society are so far from why we should change that it inspires awe.

After a price increase for the pigmentation of yellow paint caused by unrest in the Federation of West Ghana, we were told our name had been changed to better suit the color of paint required. No, the color was not changed to the suggested black to absorb heat; no, it was not changed withstand torture from the atmosphere; it was changed to save a few dollars. Perhaps it was a good decision to save money, but why then do they focus their efforts in places where the change will be so insignificant as to be practically nonexistent? Why do they not instead focus on improving the efficiency of the engine or removing weight? I cannot understand. Yet I should, for I too act with similar thoughts and actions. That we can understand and yet not do is something that baffles me and many other scientists. The human mind is an area that exists right at home - and yet we instead choose to explore the deep reaches of space instead.

Ah well though. I am not a philosopher by any means, nor am I being paid to argue all the faults of the human race. I am here to push boundaries, wherever they may be. To concern myself with matters besides is to unnecessarily burden myself. I should instead concern myself with the underperforming hyperdrive and that we are weeks behind schedule (to no one's surprise unfortunately) and that the team is little more then a group of undertrained, under equipped adrenaline junkies and pseudo scientists leaving to a planet with no real purpose beyond pushing the boundaries of what we can do. But how can one help but think about such things when chaos and suffering is so obvious that vultures gather like dark clouds? How can one not help but think "Why is this more important then the lives of thousands?" Ah, but there are so many problems and so little time.

I grow world-weary with my age. Perhaps this break from my home will allow me to forget the suffering and enjoy the few joys we are given with life. This trip both is one of sorrow and joy, intermingled together in a complex web like that of woven silk. It seems as though this journey represents all of life tied together.

Perhaps I have grown to be a fat philosopher too with age. But it is nigh but impossible to distinguish wisdom from ignorance. Where one lies on the scale of "too little" to "too much" is so hard to tell that I feel that the only way to find out is to reach the middle and find the golden mean.

Enough though. The journey - whatever it may truly be - will be to Diapason upon a great rocket. What the planet has in store for me I do not know. But to ponder the future too much is to sacrifice living in the present. Whatever there is for me there, I shall soon know.